Welcome to the home of BIZZY people where cooking is fun, quick, easy and delicious. Over the years, my taste in food has changed, as have my recipes. This blog will chronicle the changes I continue to make, as I face challenges in healthier eating and in new methods of cooking.

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Sunday, September 6, 2015

Corn Salad with Pastrami

I have not added many new recipes in the last week because school started and I found it hard not to think about my class and what will make it an effective year for them. I believe strongly in a class personality and that factor determines how I handle the class both in learning and discipline.

I am teaching two classes, this year, and when I walked into each one, I felt good. The boys were normal with no one glaring as a discipline problem. I know that in one class there is a child who has been difficult over the years. I made it a point to connect with him immediately. He behaved and participated. One day of success. Now for the days to come.

Last year, the class was supposed to be a dream class and from the moment I walked in, I felt a tension, I never felt before in that room. It remained for at least half the year and never dissipated completely. It took me months to understand that this class felt entitled. They were a smart group and had been told this for years and finally it caught up with them (it not before).

Never having a class that I didn't love from day 1, this was very confusing for me. As the year went on, I become attached to the individual students but I never felt the attachment, I usually feel. I believed I had failed.

This year, walking in and seeing enthusiasm, I was refreshed and motivated once again. I hope the year will prove my instincts and observations correct.

Last month when I started adding pastrami to a variety of dishes and receiving abundant compliments, I decided to fool around with adding the meat to other types of food. This week, I was making a corn salad and the pastrami fit right in. It gives it a lot more flavor and varies the texture.

2 comments:

Hi Chaya, I can relate to your school experience. Hope it's a wonderful year for you. Being retired for 3 school years now, I couldn't even imagine being back in the classroom. I'm getting ready for the holidays, planning my menus and trying to be organized. I think I was more organized when I was teaching.Right now, I'm working on revising my GF challah recipe. Your salad looks inviting.

I know what you mean about a class personality. Every semester it is different. If it's not a good group I swear I will never teach again. But then it turns out to be a good class and I am ready to keep going.